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Le Pin 2020

RegionBordeaux
Subregion France > Bordeaux > Right Bank > Pomerol
ColourRed
TypeStill
Grape VarietyMerlot

One of the most famous and hard-to-find wines of Bordeaux thanks to the tiny production (of 100% Merlot from 2.5 hectares of vines) and consistently fabulous quality. Jacques Thienpont established Le Pin in 1979 and his sumptuous, silky Pomerol is always intense yet un-forced, smooth and fine.

View all vintages of this wine | View all wines by Château Le Pin

Label

Tasting Notes

The complexity of the wine shows incredible aromas of perfectly ripe tannins and fresh flowers such as lavender and rose stem. Mineral. Stone. Hints of wet earth and fresh bark. Subtle and complete. So much incredible character. Concentrated center palate. Weightless at the end. Perfect wine. You want to drink the bottle but it will age for decades.

100
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, May 2023

Le Pin 2020 has a deep garnet-purple color. It starts off a little subdued before erupting from the glass with powerful notes of plum preserves, blackberry compote, dark chocolate, smoked meats, and Indian spices, leading to touches of crushed rocks, black truffles, and cast-iron pan. The medium to full-bodied palate is densely laden with taut, muscular fruits, framed by very firm, ripe, rounded tannins and wonderful tension, finishing very long with loads of mineral and savory layers. Epic!

99
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent, March 2023

This estate occupies a well-draining, early-ripening site, and the 2020 Le Pin is certainly marked by the warmth and sunshine of the vintage, offering up a rich bouquet of jammy plums, kirsch, figs and licorice framed by a generous application of creamy new oak. Full-bodied, broad and expansive, it's rich and gourmand, with a layered mid-palate framed by plenty of powdery structuring tannin. While it can't match the purity and precision of the 2019, it's a strong effort.

94
William Kelley, Wine Advocate, April 2023

The aromatics take a few beats to arrive, and then show pure, bright blue and red berry fruits with incredible density and a pure velvet texture. This is a brilliant Le Pin - seductive, with the density and pleasure you expect from this estate, with slow delivery of pure black berry fruits and a toasted coffee and cocoa bean finish with cooler waves of gunsmoke and earth. A wine that you will take your time over, and that will give the best of itself with at least a decade in bottle. Keeps opening and deepening the longer that it stays in the glass. A yield of 24hl/ha (usually no higher than 34hl/ha so this is not so unusual). Sandy/gravel over clay soils. Harvest 14, 16 and 21 September. Malolactic fermentation in barrel.

Drinking Window 2028 - 2044

97
Jane Anson, Decanter.com, May 2021

100% Merlot. Cask sample.
Typically seductive with a density of fruit and opulent form and texture. Aromatically alluring with zesty red fruit and floral notes and a hint of chocolate from the oak. Tannins very suave and dense. Point of salinity to give balance but the alcohol does show. (JL) 14.5%
Drink 2027 – 2045

18
James Lawther MW, JancisRobinson.com, April 2021
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.